Southampton were really poor as they lost 3-1 to AFC Bournemouth to extend Russell Martin’s winless run as a Premier League manager.
Russell Martin made an intriguing change to how he set his Southampton side up at Bournemouth as they played in a 4-4-2 with Tyler Dibling and Mateus Fernandes operating almost as two false nines.
Southampton started the better of the two teams but a quickly taken Bournemouth free-kick found Evanlison who fired the Cherries ahead on 18 minutes.
That proved the turning point as Southampton were incredibly poor for the period between that goal and half-time as Bournemouth extended their lead to 3-0 after 45 minutes.
Martin made three changes at half-time and the Saints were much improved as Taylor Harwood-Bellis got a consolation goal shortly after but that was as good as it got as Southampton lost 3-1 on the night.
Graham Potter thinks Southampton let Bournemouth goal affect them too much
Southampton looked shellshocked after Evanilson opened the scoring and lost the ball at an alarming rate after going a goal behind.
Graham Potter was on punditry duty on Sky Sport’s Monday Night Football where he explained that he felt that goal was what really “damaged” them as he said: “Bournemouth were worthy winners. Southampton started the game quite well but the first goal really damaged them.
“It was a great goal and Bournemouth were then on the front foot with their intensity and pressing.
“The disappointing thing from Southampton’s perspective was the first goal affected them too much.
“They came back in the second half and played with a bit of pride. Russell will cling to those small things of winning the second half but they were beaten by the better team tonight.”
Russell Martin needs to see Southampton reaction against Arsenal
The defeat to Bournemouth leaves Southampton with just one point from their first six Premier League matches.
It’s a concerning start for Martin and his players and the Saints boss could start to come under pressure; particularly given the nature of the performance against Bournemouth.
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The bad news is it is only going to get tougher for Southampton as they travel to title-contenders Arsenal next before another away trip to Manchester City.
The Saints do welcome fellow newly-promoted side Leicester City to St Mary’s in-between those two away games and it is absolutely pivotal Martin masterminds a win against the Foxes or he could find himself out of a job.